Elevating Biomedical Performance of ZnO/SiO2@Amorphous Calcium Phosphate ‐ Bioinspiration Making Possible the Impossible |
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Authors: | Duc‐Viet Nguyen Shengwei Jiang Chengyong He Zhongning Lin Naibo Lin Anh‐Tuan Nguyen Lifeng Kang Ming‐Yong Han Xiang‐Yang Liu |
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Affiliation: | 1. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Life Sciences (CeLS), National University of Singapore, Singapore;2. Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore;3. State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China;4. Research Institute for Soft Matter and Biomimetics, Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Fire Retardant Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, P. R. China;5. Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore;6. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Singapore |
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Abstract: | Here a biomimetic approach is presented to fabricate nanodragon fruits featured by a multitude of tiny quantum dot ZnO seeds embedded in mesosilica (SiO2) flesh then enclosed in amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) shell. The nanodragon fruits give rise to a new class of hybrid ZnO/SiO2@ACP nanocomplex with multimoidal capability: cellular delivering, intracellular targeting, and subcellular imaging. With this particular design, the unusual fluorescent stability of ZnO quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution, the specific color selection of the functional ZnO QD seeds, and the stability of transient ACP over a long period of time are made possible. In addition, the nanodragon fruits, capable of targeting mitochondria, have elevated biocompatibility, thus can be of enormous potential applications in treating mitochondrial diseases including inflammation, neurodegeneration, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. As numerous human disorders are often associated with cellular dysfunctions, this biocompatible carrying platform, capable of delivering, targeting, and imaging subcellular organelles, is therefore highly desirable for efficacious therapeutic and diagnostic treatment. |
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Keywords: | amorphous calcium phosphate core– shell nanostructures mitochondria targeting and imaging silica ZnO quantum dots |
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